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Analyzing Langston Hughes 'Theme For English B'

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Sarah Huber 2/11/2015
English 9 4AC Literary Analysis Langston Hughes’ poem “Theme for English B” urges an individual to consider that African Americans and White people are not as different as they have been claimed to be in the past. Hughes poem uses punctuation and repetition to emphasize the theme everyone is alike no matter the skin color. Langston Hughes uses the literary element of repetition it is used to draw emphasis to statements about the theme. The theme equality is made evident in line twenty-one which states “Well I eat, sleep, drink and be in love”. This quote illustrates the theme of equality because all Americans no matter the color of their skin can relate to this quote. All African Americans and Caucasian Americans can say that they eat, they drink, and they feel love. Those facts are not only applicable to Caucasian …show more content…
In line twenty it states “---we two---” conveys the theme of egalitarianism by using commas and dashes. In the quote the author uses the words “you” and “we” to refer to the teacher and to the reader. It gives the reader a chance to relate to the poem and consider the question of equality. Also he uses the phrase “---we two---” to separate it from the sentence and emphases its importance in the sentence. It is important because it is talking to the teacher and to the person reading the poem when he uses the word “we”. The word “we” does not exclude anyone so it is linking a white person and a black person. However, the author Langston Hughes, displays difference in color with the word “two” presenting their skin colors being different. Moreover, the quote on line nineteen illustrates the theme “I hear

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